


Those with Wings- Crash Course

by FireDragon1321



Series: Those with Wings AU [1]
Category: Multi-Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossover, Gen, Mentions of Sex, Non-Story, Wingfic, basically if you are easily offended or triggered don't read chapter 5, basically your favorite characters as pokemon but wings, mentions of character death in chapter 5, mentions of controversial content in chapter 5, mentions of persecution against characters, mentions of sexual abuse in chapter 5, more tags will be added as needed, no sex or violence in this fic but there may be sex or violence in fics in this au, non-graphic depiction of an anxiety attack in chapter 3, or the rest of this i guess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2019-05-17 08:02:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14828504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireDragon1321/pseuds/FireDragon1321
Summary: This is the tale of a class on the history of humans and characters! Care to listen in?This “story” is meant to explain the Those with Wings AU to newcomers. I recommend you read at least Chapter 1 before reading any TwW AU fics written by me or (maybe, hopefully) someone else.Tags are for content and trigger warnings only, and reflect the entire “story”.





	1. Humans and Characters!

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome, newcomer, to the “Those with Wings” AU. This is generally your starting point for an AU I created long ago. If you were redirected here from another fic, relax- you probably only have to read this first chapter to get up to speed. The rest is just mechanics and BS that flesh out the world. If you need to read one of those, I will let you know in the fic you came here from.
> 
> Because just listing things is not fanfiction (does that violate a03’s guidelines if it’s not a story?), I created a pretend classroom to talk about the AU. Therefore, it’s “technically” a story. This is a little more humorous than actual tales set in the AU, which tend to be darker.
> 
> Also, this AU focuses on human or humanoid anime and anime-style video games, but there are characters from other media, too. They just won’t get showcased as much/at all.
> 
> Yes, a lot of this was taken from Pokemon (even the fact that the professor has an example on hand, similar to the World of Pokemon speech at the start of many of the games), but only because that battle system serves as the backbone for the battle system in this AU. Hence, characters have types. There are three new types, though- Light, Magic and Wind- from Pokemon Factory. I feel these types- especially the Light-type- work better with certain characters than, say, just using Normal or something.
> 
> Also, the characters are not like Siri, and have human intelligence. I was just writing this from a human perspective, and that’s how they rationalize treating characters like shit.
> 
> Hopefully, you have the gist of how this AU works, so go and read that other fanfic that directed you here! Or keep reading this one. Or just go do something else. I don’t control your life.
> 
> Future chapters won’t be as long as this one. I promise. I hope.
> 
> Okay, let’s stop babbling and get to the story!
> 
> All copyrighted characters belong to their original owners.
> 
> EDIT 6/2/18- Minor edit to this, mostly involving the amount of characters in existence, and the fact there are duplicates. This was an important fact not in the original.

The classroom was filled to the brim with college students, most of whom were as nondescript as the room itself. There was a whiteboard at the front of the room that read “Character History and Development 101”. This was a subject more than half the room knew well, but it was required to graduate.

The professor was a middle-aged man with dark hair that only featured streaks of grey. His eyes were mostly hidden behind his glasses. In his hand was an oblong object that occasionally gave off a minor wave of energy that was undetectable to the people in the room. The bottom half of the object was purple. The purple half had two fangs that cut upwards into a clear dome. This dome’s contents were unrecognizable.

“Does anyone here not know what this is?” the professor asked, holding up the object.

“That’s a pod,” a student in the front of the room sighed. “I have three of those in my backpack right now.”

“Very good,” the professor said. “These are used to store characters via a method known as ‘compression’. It basically-”

“What’s a ‘compression’?” asked a student way in the back.

“Yea, I’m bored!” another added.

“Well, then, let’s review a bit from last class, then,” the professor said, a bit nervously and to a chorus of groans. “This pod holds a being known as a character. Long ago, characters were just spirits that people made up. They couldn’t interact with the real world, and we couldn’t interact with them. Therefore, we generally believed theywere fairy tales at best, and did not exist.

“During World War I, the Japanese managed to harness these spirits into physical bodies. These bodies were used as soldiers, using untold power to wreak devastation across the land. After the war, the method to fuse the spirits into man-made bodies became known to the world. They first used fully-metallic bodies, but these bodies were slowly upgraded with synthetic organs. Now, only the brain- the part that stores the spirit- is a machine.

“Now, characters can be found everywhere. They used to only appear in stores, but some escaped and can be found running wild in your neighborhood. We can also find them on the Internet, which has- as I’m sure you all know- developed into a physical space we can visit known as ‘the Net’ over the past few years. 

“Finally, characters live in their worlds, which are called ‘servers’. There are many servers for each world we’ve ever dreamed up, all set to different points in time. Through the Net, we can access these servers and visit the worlds of the characters. We’ve also discovered that there are more character spirits than there are servers, allowing us to bring multiple versions of the same character into the real world.

“Technology has advanced to the point where we can now replicate the character’s exact appearance from head to toe. Just like this example, which I’ve brought in to show you.”

The professor pressed a button on the pod’s surface. It opened and released a flash of white light. When the light died down, there was another person standing in the room. He looked like a cartoon come to life, with big brown eyes and just as big brown hair. A tail snaked behind him, coated with orange scales. When he stretched, the wings on his back fluffed their orange and white feathers. If one looked closely, they could see sharp teeth in his mouth and the tips of claws emerging from his fingertips.

“You know I hate it in there,” the boy muttered, rubbing his eyes.

“Okay, so what’s the point of showing us that kid from that Pokemon ripoff?” one of the students asked.

“I brought Tai in to show you what an actual character looks like,” the professor explained. “I’m pretty sure you’ve all seen one, but just so that we’re all on the same page, these beings all have wings and are usually flight-capable. It’s part of the character creation process, and we aren’t quite sure why they grow them. This species also has a tail, though not all characters do. You may also notice he is a perfect replica of his original appearance on television, instead of a faceless metal skeleton.”

Tai began to wander around the room restlessly, half of the students paying more attention to him than the professor. Unaware, the man continued to lecture.

“Now then, ‘compression’. The cells of a character are not like our cells. We can change them to anything we desire. That also means we can painlessly shrink them down and turn them into a non-corporeal form called “data”. That data can be stored in pods or even sent to the Cloud.”

“Yea, ‘change’ us,” Tai muttered, too low to be heard. “Like my sister.”

As if on cue, a student raised their hand and asked, “Is it true you can change a character into anything?”

“Almost anything,” the professor replied. “Characters can even be turned into other species of characters. However, it’s difficult to restore their original forms when you do this.”

Tai took a sharp breath and closed his eyes. “You’ll have to excuse him,” the professor said. “He lost his sister to a transformation.”

“Don’t tell them that!” Tai shouted.

“If you keep misbehaving, I’ll have to compress you again,” the professor warned.

Tai grunted, but said no more, looking down at his feet. The professor continued to prattle on. 

“That’s not all that can be done to characters,” the professor said. “Characters are not considered ‘people’, despite their intelligence. They are more like the AI in your phone. Therefore, they can become someone’s legal property. They are used for work, as companions or in the ever-popular battle circuit. The people who battle with characters are known as ‘Defenders’. Then there are ‘Dealers’, people who work for either small companies or the Dealer’s Association-”

“Not always!” a student interrupted. “I’m an independent Dealer!”

“Is it true that you use characters for erotic fanart and things like that and sell the results?” a student bluntly asked.

“Yea, and don’t you deal in that virtual cash called ‘netbits’ too?” another student asked, a blush on her face.

“Again, not always,” the young Dealer replied. “Sometimes, we just train or transform their bodies and minds so that they’re more useful to humans. Granted, there’s people who protest what we do, or even ‘sporkers’ who stop our actions for netbits, but I think our job is rather necessary.”

“Shut up,” Tai mumbled. “Shut up.”

“Yes,” the professor said. “You explained what Dealers do perfectly. Some Dealers also dispose of characters that are no longer able to function. They do very important work in keeping characters in line.”

“How can you support them after what they did to Kari?” Tai shouted. He was silenced when his pod was pointed towards him- a kind of silent warning.

“It’s important that characters are controlled,” the professor continued, not putting the pod down. “When they come into this world, they are born with great power. Even if they had no powers to begin with, they develop them anyway. From simple abilities like fire manipulation to the more unusual like toxic auras that pervert the surrounding area, the list of powers characters have are endless. There are twenty-one types to categorize these powers and the characters who wield them. Can anyone tell me what they are?”

A student raised her hand and was called upon. “Well, I know that character is a Fire-type,” she said, pointing to Tai. “The other types, um, they’re easy. Water, Grass. Uh, maybe Thunder?”

“Electric,” another student said.

“Right, Electric,” the female student said. “That’s all I got, though. I’m not a Defender. I don’t even have a character as a pet.”

The whole student body laughed at the girl, causing her to retreat into her seat a bit. Another female student rose her hand and said, “I believe our friend here forgot the other types. The twenty-one types are Bug, Dark, Dragon, Electric, Fairy, Fighting, Fire, Flying, Ghost, Grass, Ground, Ice, Light, Magic, Normal, Poison, Psychic, Rock, Steel, Water and Wind. Some characters may even have two types.”

The professor applauded the student. “Yes, very good!” he said. “These types determine the character’s powers, strengths and weaknesses. I want all of you to memorize the types, since we’ll be talking more about them next class. Alright, class dismissed.”

With that, the students ran out of the room, off to their next destination. This left Tai and the professor alone. Tai was totally silent, but started when the professor said, “Well, time to get back in the pod, little one.”

“Wait a sec!” Tai cried. “I hate it in there! Let me stay out more! Please?”

“We’re going home now,” the professor said sternly. 

“But-” Tai began, only for the pod to open.

He only knew blackness after that.


	2. What’s Your Type?

Another day, another lesson. The professor looked over his students and began to speak.

“Today,” he said, “We will be discussing types.”

“I already know this,” a student muttered under his breath.

“Well,” the professor said, displaying surprising hearing for a man his age, “What is the difference between a Flying and Wind type?”

“Uh, I dunno,” the student replied sheepishly. “I never paid attention to that.”

“There’s actually a great difference,”the professor said sternly, adjusting his glasses. “But let’s start at the beginning of the alphabet, with the Bug-type. Bug-types are fairly difficult to find. These characters possess the unusual powers of insects, or they may have features like antennae. 

“Far more common is the Dark-type. They control the powers of shadows and evil. At the very least, they employ dirty tactics in battles- whether they are in official tournaments or the character is trying to protect themselves.”

A female student raised her hand and was called upon. “Why are there more Dark-types than Bug-types?” she asked. “I mean, bugs are everywhere, and it sounds like Dark-types are super-strong. Why would we want more of them?”

“I’m glad you asked,” the professor said. “It depends on what humans are interested in creating. The powers of darkness are simply more appealing than the powers of bugs. Keep in mind that modern characters are created with the purpose of money in mind, so you want their powers- and therefore types- to be interesting to the target audience. Besides, there are Dealers to keep characters of any type from going totally off the rails.”

The Dealer student beamed upon hearing this last sentence, which made his fellows to his right and left shift a bit uneasily. As important as Dealers were, did this guy have to be so damn happy about his job? Besides, they did all that perverted stuff to characters, too.

“Back to the types, we have the Dragon-type next,” the professor lectured on. “They are surprisingly common, and they possess the power of dragons within their blood. Dragons don’t live on Earth, of course, but you can find them in other dimensions. Electric-types simply use lightning as their weapon, and some can even eat electricity straight from power sockets and wires. Now, what is the difference between Fairy and Light-types?”

Silence settled over the room for a while. It was so silent, you could hear even the quieter birds chirping outside. Finally, a male student dared to answer.

“Um, I dunno,” he said. “I watch them fight, but they seem the same. Why are there separate types for them?”

“They are in separate categories for the same reasons as Flying and Wind,” the professor explained. “They have different strengths and weaknesses against other types. They also do different things. The Fairy-type controls the power of fae creatures, which is often connected to the moon. Light-types, however, are more connected to holy power or the physical properties of light. They also cover different stock characters. A magical girl might be considered a Fairy-type, while a religious character would be a Light-type.”

“Can’t the magical girl be a Light-type too?” a student interrupted.

“Yes,” the professor replied. “Um, yes. Characters, of course, can have up to two types. For example, the Fighting-type is often combined with other types. It is very common, and represents a powerful fighting spirit. Then, there is the Fire-type, which can manipulate flames. The Tai I brought to show you last class is a Fire-type.”

“Why?” asked a female student, without raising her hand. “He didn’t have any powers on the show.”

The professor sighed at her display of rudeness. “You see,” he said, “Sometimes, characters inherit the abilities of creatures they befriended or things they symbolize. The Tai I showed you travels with a fire-breathing creature in his original media, so he inherited the same powers when he came to this world.”

“I guess that makes sense,” the student said. “Not,” they added in a quiet whisper the professor did not detect.

“Now, to put this Flying and Wind debate to bed,” the professor continued. “Flying-types are those who contain the powers of birds. They may also have increased flying ability. Wind-types control wind, plain and simple. There is some overlap, but- generally- Flying-types are more about the physical aspect of birds, while Wind-types are about the abstract concept of wind.

“Another type that could overlap with another type is Ghost. While it appears similar to the Dark-type at first glance, these characters are mostly about the undead. The strongest can even bring the dead back to life for a short time as zombies, but they all have some control over shadows- just like Dark-types. Remember- Dark-types are not generally occult creatures, while Ghost-types are.”

“What’s the point of that?” a student murmured to another.

Ignoring this exchange, the professor went on. “Ground and Rock-types are also quite similar, but there is a key difference,” he said. “These rare types both control the power of earth, but Rock-types are able to only use rocks, much like the stones you might find on the street, only sometimes sharper and almost always bigger. Ground-types are more varied. Sand, mud, even earthquakes- all of these and more fall under the Ground-type’s domain.

“Water and Ice are closely related as well. The Ice-type controls frozen water alone- like ice and snow- and has an increased resistance to cold. Water-types are even more fascinating. They manipulate water of course, but many have gills. They are able to live their entire lives underwater or on land at their discretion. We don’t know why this is, but it is truly an interesting development, and we are currently studying Water-types to get to the bottom of this mutation.”

The students were growing bored of this incredibly long list. They were doodling on their notes or moving their hands like mouths in a classic “blah blah” fashion. Undeterred, the professor continued.

“The Grass-type is able to use plants as their weapons, and can even harness the sun’s power for strong attacks,” the professor said. “Next, we come to another set of closely related types- Magic and Psychic. Magic types are able to use the arcane with ease, and can not only make common magic tricks and illusions come to life, but make them incredibly deadly. The Psychic-type prefers the power of the mind. They use their mechanical brains for teleportation, telekinesis, telepathy and more.

“Poison-types have powerful toxins in their bodies that can kill or incapacitate an ordinary human. Thankfully, this type is extremely rare. Steel-types are more common. They wield metal weaponry or are coated with metal, giving them defenses so thick that most other types can’t hurt them. Finally, there is the Normal-type.”

“Boring!” mocked a student in the back.

“No, not ‘boring’,” the professor said. “Normal-types simply have powers that are too simple or strange to be placed in any other category. But their powers range wildly. Some use sound as their weapon of choice. Others prefer the weather. Normal-types are fairly hard to find. Many aren’t considered competitively viable by Defenders since they’re mostly bland harem protagonists and the like. Defenders prefer characters with solid personalities, which tend to be stronger in battle. But there are more Normal-type moves than any other type.”

“Moves?” a student asked.

“Yes. Moves.” the professor said. “Moves and abilities will be our topic next class.” Here, his tone turned somewhat dark. “By the way, I noticed that more than half of you weren’t paying attention or were being outright rude. I suspected this might happen.” Pulling a stack of papers out of his desk, he said, “This is some special homework about the differences between the various types. I’ll expect it done by the next time we meet.”

The students groaned as they received their homework, for each “paper” was actually a packet. Each packet was five pages thick and double-sided.

Their lesson was learned- don’t mess with the professor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want a complete list of character types and what beats every possible type combination, check out this PDF. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XaJETxFQlOKS7g_rm73NMjwoq3uN0QVs/view?usp=sharing Yes before you say anything, Steel is OP, but that’s why I prefer the type system- because it offers lots of options for weaknesses. I also made Steel weak to Water and Electric to balance out its OP-ness (it was weak to neither in the Pokemon setup).


	3. Make Your Move

After having to endure the incredibly difficult homework the night before, the students were all tired but ready to pay attention when the professor strode in, pod in hand and carrying a black briefcase, the latter of which quickly went on the floor. With a press of a button, Tai was released into the room.

“Why am I here again?” Tai asked, looking around the classroom.

“I need an assistant to teach the students here about moves and abilities,” the professor explained. At least three students backed up in fear. The professor just laughed and said, “No, no no. I know what you’re thinking- ‘Can’t he use fire? Won’t he burn me?’. The answer to both of those questions is ‘yes’.” 

In the back of the room, a girl screamed. “You know, you aren’t helping,” Tai said with a smirk.

“Any more back talk out of you, and you’ll go back in the pod,” the professor warned with the stern gentleness of a father. Tai gulped and looked down at his hands as the professor continued. “Today, I’m going to demonstrate simple attacks to talk about moves. Those moves are going to be ‘Scratch’ and ‘Ember’.”

“So, wimpy moves?” Tai asked.

“What did I just say?” the professor shot back, causing at least two students to snicker. Turning back to his class, he said, “These moves will not hurt any of you. I can keep them under control. For example- Tai, please release your claws.”

“I just got these new gloves,” Tai muttered as sharp claws emerged from the tips of his fingers, tearing through his gloves with an audible ripping sound. Each claw was almost an inch long and black in color, curved to a sharp point.

The same student from before screamed again, but the professor ignored her. He took a small object out of his briefcase. It appeared to be a worn stuffed animal of a dinosaur, which was burnt in places. The professor also took a bottle of water out of the briefcase to contain the “Ember” attack.

“Okay, Tai,” the professor told him. “Give us a demonstration of Scratch on this stuffed animal.”

Without a word, Tai obeyed, ripping right through the tiny creature. Despite how strong his claws looked, he didn’t tear it in half- merely left a trail of claw marks on its side that oozed stuffing. That did not stop the girl from screaming a third time, which was starting to annoy the rest of the class. They mumbled and grumbled, but the professor continued his demonstration.

“This is a very simple move,” the professor explained. “Moves range from weak to powerful. They are active skills a character can use. Each character also has a special ‘signature’ attack. However, I will not tell Tai to use his, as it is too dangerous.”

“Killjoy,” Tai muttered.

“Tai’s signature move is called ‘Flamethrower’, but he’ll be using a weaker version so you can see how it works without anyone getting hurt,” the professor said. “This move is ‘Ember’. Even though it is weak, you might want to back up a bit if you are sitting in the front row.” 

Everyone sitting in the front pulled back as far as they could, metal chairs squealing across the metal floor. They didn’t get too far, but that was apparently okay, for the professor signaled his character to strike with a thumbs-up. Three small fireballs- each no bigger than sparks- appeared in the palm of Tai’s right hand. He launched the fireballs at the stuffed animal, setting it ablaze. Seeing this display made the screaming girl’s eyes roll back in her head as she finally fainted away.

The professor paid her no mind for the moment- even as some of the other students rushed to her aid- and took the bottle of water. Before the fire could spread, he poured it on top of the stuffed animal, immediately quenching the flames. 

“There you are,” the professor said. “These are two moves. Now, um, someone please take that poor girl to the nurse.”

Two female students rose and struggled to carry the fainted girl away. “That was a big overreaction,” Tai said as the three of them left.

The professor glared at Tai. “Be quiet,” he hissed. “Now, please retract your claws.” Tai did as he was told as the professor- once again speaking in a friendly manner- continued his lecture. “Tai also has moves that have no visible effects. Not all moves can cause damage. Move moves do, however, so it’s important to be careful around characters. 

“Tai also has a seemingly-passive, constantly-working power called an ‘ability’. His is ‘Blaze’, which makes Fire-type moves like Ember more powerful if he’s weaker. For obvious reasons, we can’t demonstrate it in the classroom. But it’s active as we speak. 

“There are two types of abilities- the normal abilities like Blaze and support abilities commonly used by Defenders. These people can teach their characters up to six support abilities, so a character can have seven abilities total. Normal abilities are species-specific, and can’t be changed, though they can be swapped if the character knows two. Support abilities, however, are always being swapped by professional Defenders.

“There are countless moves and abilities in the world. A list of common ones and their effects is available online. Please study it for the next test. Class is dismissed.”

The students filed out, many taking nervous glances at Tai or the stuffed animal as they left. One gave Tai the finger. Tai was about to shout at him, but the professor opened up his pod without a word, compressing the poor character and removing him from the situation before the student got hurt.

After all, characters were dangerous creatures.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This AU does contain moves and abilities that come from sources other than Pokemon (like Final Fantasy) and quite a few that I made up. These lists are always updating, so I can’t provide a link to them. But I will (maybe) upload a list of moves that are eligible for signature attacks. 
> 
> I plan on eventually uploading a template for people to create their own profiles for characters, but I did make a lot of those on my own. I’ll talk more about that when enough information is uploaded in the Crash Course for people to do this independently.


	4. The Power of Characters

It was another day of class in “Character History and Development 101”. The professor did not bring Tai along to assist him. The reason was made plain as day to the students.

“The subject matter I’m going to cover today involves more powerful abilities than the ones you saw yesterday,” the professor explained. “Considering one of my students fainted from even a simple demonstration, I do not want to risk anyone else’s health with a more advanced one. Today, we are going to cover some things used by professional Defenders.”

“When are we getting to the ‘history’ part?” a student asked without raising his hand.

The student earned a hard glare from the professor for being rude, but still got an answer. “Today is the last day we will be covering the basics,” the professor replied. “After that, we’ll delve into the history some more. After all, there are important current events involving characters and- primarily- Dealers. We’ll get to them starting next class. But first, I must finish talking about the powers characters possess, so you all understand the importance of Dealers in today’s world.”

Here, the student who claimed to be a Dealer smiled with pride. It bears repeating that Dealers made material that could- at times- be outright pornographic, so the constant praise and the Dealer’s reactions made the other students feel uneasy at best and angry at worst.

The professor continued his lecture, not allowing the Dealer student or any other students to create drama. “Characters have three special abilities- linking, Limit Breaks and Desperation Mode. All characters have the power to utilize these skills, though in different degrees.

“The most simple concept is ‘linking’. Using their wings, characters absorb energy from the surrounding area or even other characters. This energy generally makes them stronger or feel more vitalized. However, the wrong type of energy makes them sick or disoriented. Is there anyone here experienced with linking? Maybe you have a character at home who displays this behavior?”

This question only earned the professor metaphorical crickets, so he waited a bit-as if he was on a children’s television show- then continued with the answer. “Let’s say there’s a tree,” he explained. “There’s the physical tree that you and I see. Then, there’s the concept of a tree. We give the tree symbolic traits, such as having it represent life on Earth. The characters are able to sense these traits with their wings, and take them as their own to power themselves up. The amount of energy they take is so small that the tree is not affected.”

“This isn’t philosophy,” one student in the front row muttered to another.

“Yea, who cares about ‘the concept of a tree’?” her friend replied.

“You will, when it’s on the final,” the professor said, silencing both students. “The second most powerful ability all characters possess is the ‘Limit Break’. It is stronger than a typical move. Characters draw from the energy they’ve collected recently to use Limit Breaks.

“Each character is born with a Limit Break known only to their species, but they can learn one more. In addition, all characters appear to possess a special Limit Break known as Omega Inforce. We don’t know what it is or what it does, since- despite years of study- there hasn’t been one case of its use.

“Finally, there is Desperation Mode, which is the most dangerous of these powers. If a character is in a situation that could be life or death for them or someone they care about, they will change form for a short time. When they do this, their ability and type change, and the are twice as strong as normal. After reverting, they can use this form again at will. Some characters even possess two different Desperation Modes depending on their individual personality.”

A student in the back of the room made an exaggerated snore. The professor looked right at him. “Is something the matter?” he asked.

The student bolted upright. “Nothing!” the student cried. “Um, I’m a Defender, so I know this stuff already.”

“Not everyone in this room does, and this will all be on the final,” the professor reminded. “All of the information useful to Defenders like yourself is gathered in something called the Dex- a constantly-updating encyclopedia on characters, their moves, abilities and more. However, the Dex is made by Defenders, for Defenders. People who don’t battle with characters are often unaware of even this basic information, and knowing it will make the next class more impactful. We will begin to talk about the history of characters and humans more in-depth then. Class dismissed.”

The students all shuffled out, leaving the professor alone. Once the professor was free of his twenty-six inattentive and rude students, he pulled a familiar pod out of his pocket. He stared at it for a long while, put it away, then exited the classroom himself.


	5. The Necessity of Dealers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, now we’re going to be delving into dark stuff and some stuff based on real-world events in fandom. Some people might feel “called out” and get offended, because I do talk about certain types of bad fanfiction here- mostly bad smut, which is presented as a kind of rape in this AU (this is why comments on this piece are moderated). There are also mentions of en masse character death.
> 
> I did not use the archive warnings because the word “rape” is not used in the actual story, there’s no gore, nothing occurs onscreen and all of it is fairly sterilized for the purposes of the lecture, but it might still offend or trigger someone. 
> 
> This chapter is necessary to understand current events in the world of Those with Wings. You might even have been linked here. If you feel like you’re going to be offended or triggered by this chapter, then I recommend avoiding this AU entirely. Your safety is more important than my stupid ideas from 2010.
> 
> (Though if you believe this fic needs to be upgraded to the M-rating, tell me, and I will do so, since I’m a bit new to a03’s rating system).

It was a rainy day as the class congregated once more. The professor was fiddling with the pod that contained Tai, but- when the students arrived- he put it away. He carried Tai on hand for the purposes of personal protection, classroom demonstrations and scientific study, but this lecture might hurt the Fire-type to the point where he would turn violent. His human students and their safety were of utmost importance. 

The professor noticed his Dealer student fidgeting with excitement. It seemed that he remembered the topic for the day’s lecture. The professor figured that the rest of his students forgot, so he began the lecture with, “Welcome, welcome! Today, we will be discussing the history of character interactions with Dealers.”

Here, the Dealer smiled as wide as the Cheshire cat, while most of the students wriggled about uncomfortably like caught fish. The professor said, “This topic might be upsetting to some people, but it’s required to cover it in order to pass this class. After all, Dealers play an important role in character population control. We don’t know how long characters can live for once they come to our world. A select few specimens have survived for sixty years or more, unchanged in appearance or power. To prevent overpopulation or even the extinction of the human race, Dealers are necessary.

“Back in the seventies, characters were everywhere. They were close to their modern forms, and were already fixtures of modern life. However, there were simply too many of them. With two characters to every family in an average American city, they were starting to take over. However, an unexpected turn of events reduced their population. Can anyone tell me what that was?”

No-one was willing to answer except the Dealer student, who was raising his hand eagerly. With only one option, the professor pointed to him.

“It was the Fragment Experiment of ’74,” the Dealer student replied, going on to speak as if he’d memorized the information from somewhere else. “Some people were experimenting with the interactions of characters in the bedroom. These people could be considered early Dealers. Because society was so sexually repressed, their actions were mostly underground. 

“In 1974, an experiment involving Star Trek occurred. Accounts of what happened vary slightly, but one thing can be agreed upon by character historians- the end result was the birth of the ‘slash’ genre of fiction, which involved pairing two male characters together in a sexual manner. 

“The money didn’t roll in immediately. Slash was only popular amongst early Dealers. However- shortly afterwards- it was discovered that the experiment created a strange server- one that constantly reset instead of going constantly forward in time. By capturing characters off the street to fill in as the lovers in the tale each time it reset, overpopulation began to die down. These servers, increasing openness to sexuality and the later spread of ‘shipping’ on the Internet allowed Dealers to finally step into the limelight. Granted, there were rumors of monsters being born in the original experiment, but-”

“Okay, okay,” the professor said. “That’s enough. But yes, you’re correct- the experiment in 1974 opened the floodgates to Dealers. They were originally women exploring their sexuality in a way that proved hazardous to characters but safe for them. But- when Dealing become profitable- male Dealers started to appear as well. 

“In either case, the characters they caught were seen as little more than objects, which were intended to be used and then replaced. To this day, characters are kept in cages instead of pods, as cages are cheaper alternatives. They are also fed a specific, mineral-rich diet that many character activists have compared to dog food. This diet is cheaper than feeding them traditional meals. Everything Dealers do cuts back on costs so they get more profit, since they are always replacing characters with healthier versions.

“However, there is a side effect of all the cost-cutting. Due to these harsh conditions, characters began to die, with the lucky ones surviving to only five or six years old. As there are many, many multiples of each species, finding replacements is relatively easy. But the population was no longer too much to handle. 

“Dealers were also important for humans to safely and securely explore their sexuality. With the introduction of the Internet, people were able to express their sexuality in many ways. Sometimes, they needed characters to simulate situations that would be considered dangerous or illegal if done to humans. This created a more sexually open and healthy society.

“As time progressed, Dealers even began to serve as executioners for characters who were considered sick or disobedient by their owners. For a fee, the characters were easily ‘gotten rid of’. Dealers either killed them in snuff stories of various kinds or transformed them into something more useful. Because characters have a different molecular makeup than humans, turning them into other beings is easy. Turning them back- well, that’s a different story. Like Tai’s sister, once they are changed, they are changed for good.

“For years, characters accepted this system. However, one day in 2006, something went wrong. Dealers from all over gather on the Net for an event called Dealer-Con. It’s fairly intense, with sex and alcohol around every corner. Many Dealers got drunk and killed many characters that were still able to serve them. Outraged, characters and character-activists declared war on Dealers and anyone who accepted their behavior.

“Out of the woodwork came many unscrupulous types. There are ‘wild’ characters- those without owners- who mess with Dealers of all stripes. Then there are ‘sporkers’, or humans and characters who attack Dealers in exchange for money. Finally, peaceful activists also exist. But these people did not understand that- without Dealers- overpopulation and risks to human safety would again become an issue.

“The battle between Dealers and activists became known simply as ‘the War’, and it continues to this day. To protect themselves from their enemies, many Dealers got together in 2007 and formed the Dealer’s Association, which is now one of the richest and most powerful companies in the world.”

The professor took a deep breath and looked around at his students. He noticed they hadn’t said a single word the whole class- save for the Dealer student- allowing him to finish his lecture in peace. None were staring into space or silently mocking him, either. They all heard. A good chunk of the class appeared absolutely horrified.

“I- I understand it’s a lot to take in, but that’s how our world works,” the professor stammered. “Without Dealers, characters could easily overtake humans. It’s just like creatures in the wild need some kind of predator to control their population, or they cause damage to the whole ecosystem. Now, there are worksheets online on this topic, as it is a lot of information. There is also homework, which I expect to be completed in two weeks. Class is dismissed.”

The students left the classroom. The Dealer student strode out with a sense of inflated self-importance. Other students moved more quietly, murmuring to each other. As a girl passed the professor, he saw her fidget with a pod with the word “Sora” written on it in flowing pink script.

“I love my little Sora, I love my little Sora, please, please don’t let that happen to my little Sora,” she chanted, like a mantra.

The professor wanted to speak to the girl, but she was gone by the time he looked in her direction. His attention returned to his own pod. He knew that characters were dangerous and that Dealers were needed to keep their numbers down and allow humans to explore their sexuality in a safe manner.

Still.

He clenched the pod tightly. Maybe he’d let Tai out so he could take a walk today. That was something he always seemed to enjoy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That’s all the important info for this AU. I will leave this fic unfinished, so I can return to it in case there’s anything I forgot or new stuff pops into my head. I will upload actual fics set in this AU at a later date.


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